Five Words Five Ways: The Crest of Friendship
by Idle Stripe
Summary: Here's another installment of 5W5W starring my OC and Yamato - Matt - Ishida. I know it's been a while, but bear with me; I have another one in the works at the moment.


_**-Five Words, Five Ways: Digimon Style-**_

_**-The Keeper of Friendship, Matt (Yamato) Ishida-**_

_**-Number One: Angel-**_

I was never really one for believing in angels. To me, what happened had a reason to happen, and that was the way of the world. No matter how many times I'd seen Patamon digivolve into Angemon and further to MagnaAngemon, all I ever saw in him was the physical manifestation of TK's hope. It was just a visage, a stained glass mirror people could look at and say that angels existed. But now... I sit up in bed, the moon spilling through the open window, and stare down at _her_.

_She's _the reason I'm still here, the reason I'm lying next to her naked as the day I was born. The moon spills over her sleeping form, wrapping her in a surreal glow. It's almost as if I can see the feathery wings stretch out behind her. Unlike Angemon's wings, however, hers would be tattered, twisted, and tainted. But that's who she is. She doesn't pretend, doesn't hide, doesn't even try to change who she is for the good of society. If they don't like her, then up theirs, she says.

I gently trail my fingers down her bare side, over the pockmarked skin from a chickenpox outbreak back in second grade, and let them rest on the dark red scar that sat on her hip, lined by small dots where stitches originally resided. Eighteen holes for nine stitches. I love to kiss her scars, because each of her scars tells a different story. That's another thing about her; unlike those secretive angels, she's an open book, ready and willing to be read by anyone who wishes to pick her up and take a look.

Leaning down, I place a soft kiss on the soft skin just underneath her jaw line and get comfortable again. The warmth of her body invites me back every time I part from her. It's the kind of warmth you'd expect from someone pure and light, like my brother and Tai's sister. But she's the total opposite of those two; having a partner who was once a Dark Master tends to put you on the opposite side. I never understood why she smiled at me all the time, but when I saw her crying her eyes out at the loss of her cousin in Italy, she was still smiling. She told me she cried because it was painful, but at the same time it gave her an opportunity to reflect on all the good things. I guess the lesson there is 'be thankful for what you have, or else it will be taken away'.

My angel isn't perfect, but to me she is, and that's all that matters. She's beautiful in her own right, even if it's loud, stubborn, and a little childish at times. My angel doesn't need wings to fly, nor does she need the light of the heavens to shine on her. She just needs to be herself, and I will love her for it until we are called to the heavens ourselves.

"I love you...Tora..."

-

_**-Number Two: Rose-**_

Not many people knew Tora Altona was a closet romantic. She loved the idea of being swept off her feet into her lover's arms and kissing him passionately as the screen slowly faded to black. Everyone knew, however, that her favourite flowers were the sweet-smelling lily-of-the-valley and the ever pure white rose. With Valentine's Day being today, Tora quickly got sick of seeing red roses and pink petals scattered everywhere like a child scatters their toys all over a floor. Just once, she'd like to see the rare beauty that was a white rose, sticking out like a sore thumb among the prominent colours of love. It made her wonder how the hell people didn't throw up pink and red confetti on a day like this, it really did.

"Hey Tora, have you seen this?" Sora waved her foreign friend over to her locker, and pointed to the door. Taped to it was a single white rose with a length of deep red ribbon tied around the middle.

"Wow..." was all the Keeper of Balance (1) managed. The Keeper of Love plucked the rose from the door and twirled it around in her fingers.

"It's in excellent condition," she said, handing it to Tora, "You'd better look after that one."

"I know. It's so beautiful."

"But who would give you something like that?"

"It'd have to be someone I know, because anyone else would've given me a red rose."

"Hey girls." Down the hall walked Tai Kamiya, his hands in his pockets and a soccer ball under his left arm. He stopped just short of the two and looked at the white rose in the gold eyed student's hand. She put her books away and walked with her friends out into the courtyard of the school, her mind still on the question of who would give her a rose? Normally she received lilies as a floral gift, only because roses held deeper meanings than most other flowers. Sitting down, she twirled the rose in her hand as something obscured her sunlight. She looked up and saw a single red rose, its stem tied up in an ivory white ribbon.

"Red and white roses together mean unity." Matt said, a pink blush crawling across his cheeks quickly.

"Looks like Izzy owes me some money now." Tai said. After a quick clout to the head, the Keeper of Courage led Sora away from the two.

"You know, back at the Battle of Bosworth Field, the Red Roses defeated the White Roses, but the leader of the Red Roses took a White Rose wife." Tora said, smiling at the Keeper of Friendship.

"But we're only in high school. Let's see where this goes, okay?"

"First I want to ask Izzy and Tai about this bet. Maybe they'll find roses where they least expect it if I don't like the response."

-

_**-Number Three: Brother-**_

Ryu and TK often counted their blessings every time they spent time with their siblings. While Ryu had Rune and Tora, TK only had Matt, but they wouldn't trade them in for anything. The Keeper of Hope loved to sit and listen to his brother play music. It was his way of venting his feelings. The music he played told him stories that he knew he wouldn't feel comfortable putting into words. Often the melody was pained and filled with sorrow that TK wished he could decipher, but occasionally the notes Matt played were sharp and harsh to represent the anger he felt.

Ryu, on the other hand, loved walking through the halls toward the large art studio his family owned and seeing Tora's completed and uncompleted works. Tora had always been a passionate artist, throwing herself into the creative world further ever since their father had passed away. Not only did she enjoy visual arts, but she was also a pretty renowned actor and dancer. The movements of her dances often reflected the colours she used in her art, which ranged from a subtle yellow or white to the harshest of blacks and reds. Each colour had a story according to the Keeper of Balance, and the Keeper of Trust knew better than to ask unless she was willing to share.

They were glad that their siblings still trusted them, still looked to them for help, otherwise they'd be out of the job as brothers to help them. Even though Ryu was Tora's twin, he was her older brother and as such felt it was his job to protect his younger sister from anything dangerous, whether physically or emotionally. TK, on the other hand, was the younger sibling, but was a source of comfort no one else could give his older brother, not even their parents. He was the one thing that cemented the Keeper of Friendship together after so many years of falling apart at the slightest touch.

"You know, one day they're finally going to realise we're setting them up." Ryu commented as he watched their two siblings walk away, discussing some form of music or another. TK made an affirmative noise.

"Until then, let's just sit back and listen to the complaints about each other and swap funny stories." the Keeper of Hope replied, laughing at his own joke. The Keeper of Trust joined in on the laughter, knowing that his friend was right.

-

_**-Number Four: Phone-**_

_-CLICK-_

"Tora? What's wrong?"

"I...I..."

"Calm down, Tora. You can tell me anything."

"Is she there?"

"Mimi?"

"Joe's not here..."

"Tora? You want me over there? Tora?"

"Matt..."

"I'm still here, Tora. I'm always here."

"I know...why didn't I see that sooner?"

"I couldn't stop thinking of you. Every day I kept asking myself why I pushed you away...why I did those things I did to you. I kept scolding myself for it, too. I thought that – hang on, another call."

_-CLICK-_

"Hi, is this Big Tony's Pizza House?"

"Tai, hang up! I'm talking to Tora right now."

"Matt? What are you doing at the pizza house?"

"Just hang up!"

_-CLICK-_

"Who was that?"

"Tai."

"He always knows how to make light of a situation. Just like you."

"Really?"

"I always thought that; ironically enough, I just never had the courage to tell you that sort of thing."

"You can tell me everything, Tora."

"Can I use three words?"

"What words?"

"I love you."

"..."

"Matt? I'm sorry, but that's how I feel and if you want me to hang up then I –"

"I love you too."

"Really?"

"I'm sorry I didn't say it sooner, but it's true. I love everything about you: your eyes, your smile, your laughter, everything."

"Even my bitchy and stubborn temper?"

"Even your bitchy and stubborn temper."

"What do you think Betamon and Gabumon are going to say about this?"

"About time."

"So why are you still over there?"

"Give me ten minutes."

_-CLICK-_

-

_**-Number Five: Book-**_

Stupid crime. Stupid detective work. Stupid murderers.

"Matt, will you stop glaring holes in my book? I'd like to find out if my theory is correct."

Stupid attention-seeking books. The pair were lounging in Tora's living room, the gold-eyed artist propped up on the couch reading a crime novel assigned to her in her Dramatic Arts class. Matt lay on the floor beside her, glaring up at the hard cover that had successfully distracted his girlfriend's attention from him. Why did she have to choose the _creative _course, anyway? She had a musician for a boyfriend; that should be enough creativity for her.

"You're doing it again." Tora commented dryly as she turned a page.

"What's it about?" The Keeper of Friendship always knew when the Keeper of Balance became annoyed, and always made sure to quickly change the subject whenever he could sense it. Not even her twin brother Ryu was as good at it as he was.

"Usual crime stuff: someone's decided to knock off a particular group of people, and they're leaving strange clues behind for the police. The police have hired some foreign detective who specialises in that sort of thing to help, but unluckily for them their ex-flame from a few years is still in the force and they're forced to work with them." she related.

"Sounds enthralling."

"Believe me, if I wasn't forced to read this for a genre analysis, I'd be thrilled." There was a beep.

"I just got an email from TK. He says that everything's normal in the Digital World and he should be heading back soon."

"Tell him he can use the port in my room." There was a definite pout on the Keeper of Friendship's face now. He glared once more at the crime novel in Tora's hand, then flopped back on the shaggy rug underneath him. He sat up suddenly, smirking at the idea that had just formed in his head. Slinking up onto the couch, he grabbed the book and placed it face down on the glass coffee table. Tora blinked.

"If you wanted attention, all you had to do was say so." she said, winking.

"How could you tell?" Matt asked.

"You, dearest wolf," He quickly kissed the nickname out of her, "are like my books: always open and easy to read." As the lovers kissed, they failed to notice the Keepers of Hope and Light walk into the living room. TK merely shook his head at his older brother while Kari whipped out her camera. Pictures would come in handy next time Tora needed to come to the Digital World and besides, the happy moment would go straight into her photo book designated for memories of the Digi-Destined.

(1) - That's Tora's crest. Ryu's is Trust. And I do refer to the Digi-Destined as 'keepers' of their respective crests. It makes them sound a bit more possessive. For the second gen (Season 02) I call them the 'children' of the two crests they have. Like a lovechild, sort of thing. Don't make me think about that...

_**Disclaimer: The disclaimer applies to the characters of 'Digimon: Adventure' – Toei Animation (if that's wrong, please let me know), and Tora, Ryu, and the five prompts – me. **_

_(Hi guys, Stripe here. Just to let you know, you can help out with my 5W5W series! All you need to do is submit to me any character/characters, fandom, or even an anime and some prompts, and I shall do my best to write according to your requests. If you wish, I can turn this into a contest and have __you__ all write a 5W5W and I'll judge them. Tell me what you think; I love to hear from you all. Flip ya! =3)_


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